wildrose

You can dream! LOL!

I checked out the link and it look pretty cool. Does it only do straight lines? Do you use a ruler or some sort of guide next to it to go straight? I'd love to hear more about it. I've always been a flunkie with the head knife, and I dread cutting things out of large hides/shoulders. What do you put underneath when you're cutting?

My thoughts: I live very close to Virginia Tech. The amount of Hokie stuff around here is mind blowing. I have made ALOT of things in Tech colors (maroon/orange) and nobody has said beans to me. If someone approached me wanting something (i.e. a folio) with the Tech logo on it (a slanted VT), I'd do it in a heartbeat. And I wouldn't check either. Same with Radford University (red/white). Now would I produce, say a bunch of keyrings for sale at events with either RU or VT on it?...no. That would be pushing the envelope a bit too much.

Thanks! I find alot of the Celtic work has Scandinavian/Norse origins.

I took a leap of faith based on the posts here and gave it a try. I had cut the leather for a Bible cover and slicked it before tooling. Worked like a charm. Also stained nicely and is much smoother now!!! I have to say this is the best "I never knew that" tip I've seen in a while.

I have sometimes used my life-eye (aka permalok) needle to pull out the end/beginning of lace when I'm double loop lacing (I try to use my stylus or something else instead). Thus my needle is now perpetually bent....

Got a smile out of your note. As the saying goes: "necessity is the mother of invention"

That is absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing the pattern too. I do alot of Celtic stuff and am always looking for nice designs. I don't do anything high volume, so please don't think I'm going to put it on bunches of stuff...just once in a while someone might ask for a thistle pattern.

Okay, someone mentioned using lots of water: do you mean before using the slicker or after? I have a slicker, actually, but I'd bought it to use on the back side of belts to smooth them.

The best part was that my son was across the table rather than right next to me....so I had a break from "I'm tired...I want to snuuugggglllle Mommy!" (in other words "I'm bored and don't want food right now") And since my husband got there before us, he'd gotten a seat and we didn't even have to wait. Started with a nice strawberry daquiri (yeah, I like the mixed drinks), then on to a yummy seafood and artichoke dip with chips, then some mozzarella sticks (get them as an appetizer with fried clams - the little guy actually loves clams), a great caesar salad, OF COURSE the wonderful biscuits, and then the "Ultimate Feast": lobster tail, shrimp scampi, crab legs, fried shrimp, and a baked potato with butter and sour cream. YUMMY!!!! Oh, and since I'd kept lunch small, I actually was able to order dessert, which we shared: chocolate chip lava cookie - a choc. chip cookie with gooey melted chocolate center and vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup on top. Hungry yet? LOL! The only bummer was that there were no lobsters in the tank in the waiting area. We always like to watch them.

Thanks! I intend to have a drink at my favorite eating establishment tonight: RED LOBSTER!!!!

I've gotten set up with ProPay and will begin using them this weekend. The payment time delay is an issue, but weighing it against other concerns, I think I'll take it. I've not gotten their reader yet, but am considering it at a future point.

Thanks! They are fun and easy to make. The pink is my fav too...it's very sparkly.

I've been doing well selling the larger ones from Tandy's pattern sheet, so I decided to try some minis. My best friend used to make these, so I'd seen them before. What I do is use a brad (that's officially what it's called) for the center, pushing it through all the pieces including a small circle on the back, and glue a pinback on the circle. (My friend used a rivet, and a small rectangle of leather on the back.) Have attached some extra pictures for reference. Colors are acrylics. Glue is Alene's. Leather is 3-4 oz tooling kip.

Wouldn't glassing affect how the leather accepts dyes/stains? I'd be afraid it'd seal the pores more.

I find it holds up well...if you use a quality lace particularly. I generally rub in some Aussie wax over it to give it some extra protection from drying out.

WOW! You're reading my thoughts!!!! I was going to post the same problem myself (about getting stuck). The past few days, it's like everything I put my hand to in the shop has gone bad or needed to be completely re-done. Yet I'm swamped with orders for Christmas, and have a big show this weekend. While I'm happy that my business has taken off since moving to Virginia, I'm not really happy about the pressure. So what I've done this morning is this: 1. plan exactly the minimum I need to do each day. 2. work quietly (I usually have music going) and thoughtfully on whatever is in front of me (this morning it's wet forming mini roses for pins) 3. take a break every so often. This might not work for everyone, but it is helping me. My main problem right now is that I bought a new book in my favorite series and what I REALLY want to do is curl up under a warm blanket and READ....

I've seen Shut The Box in high end stores in the New York City area. I've even tried it. It's a very challenging game where you have to manipulate pieces of wood to get the box to shut. It's a puzzler kind of thing. It's been a while since I've seen it, so that's the best my memory can supply...but it's a brainteaser for sure.

I love anything with a cat on it...but I'll add that I think you did a great job too. Aside from the eyes, I also think the nose came out really well, inc. the coloring. I like the overall style of the cover, with the way the spine overlaps for example, and the interior. The only thing I think needs a little work is blending in the white part of the coloring. It's a very bright white compared to the rest of the coloring.

My .02....I have Dale's and it's fantastic. It sees a lot of use. The only "worn" part is that the leather covering on the tops is starting to come unglued, but that's simple to fix when I feel like it.

Thanks! I'm really in love with this color too. My only problem with it is how much of it lifts off when you use Sheen on the top. It's still nice, but much lighter. These binders reminded me how much I love to do the Celtic knots.

I think the last one and the first one are my favorites of the four for this customer (see prior post: Faust crest) . The cross is definitely my favorite of all. I would've liked the round knot one better if I'd not had so much trouble with the staining (see post on "oh spot!")

Happy birthday to a great teacher and artist!

I'm just popping in real quick after placing an order with the Allentown Tandy this evening. They wanted me to mention (and someone may have already) that they are also offering big discounts first thing tomorrow morning. I order from them all they time and they are a great group of people. I'm sure they're not the only store with sales, though, so if you have a local favorite, then by all means "shop 'til you drop" (or are broke...)

I formerly used daubers on everything...until I went to a Jim Linnell workshop. He used wool scraps. I'd heard of this, but after actually seeing it done, I gave it a try, and that's what I do now. Sometimes I'll even use old white "tube socks".